After two-term incumbent Republican Mary Fallin announced she was giving up her seat to run for governor of Oklahoma, Lankford entered the race to succeed her. He finished first in a seven-way Republican primary—the important contest in this heavily Republican district—and defeated former State Representative Kevin Calvey in the runoff. He then defeated Democrat Billy Coyle in the general election with 62.53% of the vote. 2012 Lankford defeated Democrat Tom Guild with 59% of the vote. Following the election, he was named chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, the fifth-ranking position in the House Republican caucus, an unusually senior position for a second-term House member. Committee assignments United States House Committee on the Budget United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform United States House Oversight Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (Chairman) United States House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee (Chair) U.S. Senate Elections 2014 In January 2014, Lankford announced he would run in the 2014 Senate special election to succeed retiring Republican Senator Tom Coburn. Lankford won the June 2014 Republican primary, defeating former state House speaker T.W. Shannon and former state senator Randy Brogdon. In November, Lankford won the election for the final two years of Coburn's second term, defeating retiring state senator Constance N. Johnson by 319,079 votes, with 557,002 (67.9%) to Johnson's 237,923 (29.0%). Independent candidate Mark Beard won the remaining 25,965 votes (3.2%). 2016 Lankford was elected to a full six-year term in the Senate in 2016, defeating Democratic consultant Mike Workman with 67.7 percent of the vote. As in 2014, he won in a landslide, carrying every county in the state. 2022 On April 6, Lankford announced he would seek reelection. He was reelected with 64% of the vote. Tenure Lankford was sworn into office on January 6, 2015, by Vice President Joe Biden. On December 21, 2017, Lankford was one of six senators to introduce the Secure Elections Act, legislation authorizing block grants to states to update outdated voting technology as well as form a program for an independent panel of experts that would work toward the development of cybersecurity guidelines for election systems that states could then implement, along with offering states resources to install the recommendations. Committee assignments Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Labor, Health